Rare landslide forces emergency road closure in Montgomery County

GERMAN TOWNSHIP — A landslide has forced an emergency road closure in Montgomery County.

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Astoria Road between Harris Road and Oxford Road in German Township will be closed for “an indefinite period of time,” according to Montgomery County Engineer Andrew Shahan.

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“This closure is needed due to safety concerns regarding a landslide along the West side of Astoria Road,” Shahan said in a release.

A landslide has occurred and is now within six feet of the roadway, but the debris has not yet reached the roadway.

As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, Shahan said an occurrence like this is rare, noting landslides are more common in southern parts of Ohio. But he also said they’ve been monitoring the erosion on the west side of Astoria Road since August.

The landside has crews worrying that the guardrail on the road would not be able to stop a car from dropping 25 feet down into the creek if it crashed into it.

Shahan said every rainfall we have only causes more erosion into the creek.

Back in November, the landslide was about 10 feet away from the edge of the pavement. In January, it changed to about 7.5 feet and now it’s even closer.

“That’s too close that the integrity of the guardrail itself, the posts that are embedded in the ground won’t be able to do their job if someone were to strike it,” Shahan said.

A detour route following Friend Road, Browns Run Road, and Oxford Road will be provided, according to the release.

Access to residences along Astoria Road will be maintained.